STORY & PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON
MASON, Ohio - Because of a certain reign of Air, this expanse of the country for the longest time has been considered the most important Swoosh territory next to the motherland back in Beaverton, Ore. So it likely will not go unnoticed, in a Nike event, no less, that the first four major, cross-sneaker clashes of the Nike Midwest Showdown were swept by the Hertz of girl's basketball sponsors - adidas. In a second-tries-harder syndome gone mad, Exous NYC, Tennesee Team Pride, the Dayton Lady Hoopstars and Cincinnati's Finest left a clear, three-stripe mark on the first day of competition in perhaps the largest collection of talent this side of the July evaluation period.
It's a tossup as to which was the more shocking result, Team Pride's surprisingly easy 72-63 dispatching of the Fairfax Stars, Dayton's 14-triple three spree over the stellar Tennessee Flight Silver, or Cinncy's 70-63, not-as-close-as-it-looks victory over West Coast Elite. For sheer hutzpah, our money is on the Amber Gray-engineered upset of WCE, which boasts the best and brightest collection of young inside players in the club-basketball world.
Courtney Lumpkin
Teams that usually try going at the two-headed, '09 post hydra of Kelsey Bone and Monique Oliver generally don't emerge even as close to unscathed as did Gray and Cincinnati's Finest. Gray, the Tennessee commit who is ranked 14th nationally in the 2008 class by HoopGurlz.com, had her issues at the foul stripe, but unrelentingly hurled her 6-foot-1 frame at the West Coast giants enough times to collect a 17-point total that included just three field goals. One of those was a three-pointer that was sandwiched by threes from teammates Courtney Lumpkin and Tierra Stephen that staked Cincinnati to a 13-point lead near the end of the first half.
Gray, from West Chester, Ohio, said her team knew of West Coast Elite, but not many specifics. Their undaunted approach was not swayed, she added, when WCE marched into the gym with all its size.
"We didn't think anything," Gray said. "We might have looked undersized (in comparison), but we play with a lot of heart, and it showed."
Indeed, Cincinnati's Finest took FBC, arguably the best team on the adidas circuit, to the brink at the Deep South Classic. Tennessee Team Pride has claim to no such lineage, however. In fact, as recently as Saturday morning - Glory Johnson or no Glory Johnson (see Chris Hansen's assessment: Glory Be [0]) - they looked extremely mediocre during a spanking administered by SMAC Showtime. Led by the likes of North Carolina commit Chay Shegog and ultra-impressive guard Shanel Harrison, the Fairfax Stars, on the other hand, seem to have the makings of a powerhouse.
But Johnson, who is 6-3 and maybe the quickest player in the country and ranked No. 7 in 2008 by HoopGurlz, put all those thoughts on hold, carving up Fairfax with penetrations for layups or kickouts to her sharp -shooting teammates in the corners. Johnson's energy became infectious and the threes continued to rain, as did the super-smooth, pull-up jumpers of Kamiko Williams, Team Pride's sleek, 5-10 guard.
Samantha Prahalis
Earlier in the day, Exodus lived up to its reputation as an uber-talented crew by throttling past The Family in the second half. The Indiana-based Nike team did not have elite 2009 prospect Skylar Diggins, but did bring Ta'Shia Phillips, the newly minted Xavier signee, and Yvonne Anderson, one of the toughest and smartest point guards in the country. What they lacked, however, was the It Factor that Samantha Prahalis tows into every contest for Exodus.
Surely the most entertaining high-school player in the country, Prahalis went into encore mode, scoring 18 of her 28 points during a second half brimming with ballhandling pyrotechnics.
"She's our energizer," Exodus coach Apache Paschall said. "She made that spectacular pass in the second half, and it woke everybody up."
Speaking of wakeups, Nike still has several stacked teams left in the event that are unsullied by adidas hands. Defending champion Essence looked strong with April Sykes sporting smoother catch-and-shoot techniques and newcomer Whitney Hand, the Oklahoma commit, fitting in quickly. And the hosts, All-Ohio Black, led by Ayana Dunning, the 2008 class' No. 3 prospect, certainly will be heard from.
Until they, or the other two, make some noise, white-line fever has gripped this event.
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Glenn Nelson is the publisher of HoopGurlz.com. He also founded and coached the Dragons and Northwest HoopGurlz select girl's basketball teams. Glenn previously was the editor-in-chief at Scout.com and a longtime, national-award-winning basketball columnist and writer for The Seattle Times. His work also has appeared in several books and national magazines. He is co-author of "Rising Stars: The Ten Best Players in the NBA" (Rosen Publishing, 2002). For more on Glenn's World, click here [1]. He can be reached at glenn@hoopgurlz.com [2].
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